Article handling apparatus



Jan. 11, 1938.

R. c. KIVLEY ET AL ARTICLE HANDLING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed April 10, 1957 s' 1938' R. c. KIVLEY ET AL 2,105,084,

ARTICLE HANDLING APPARATUS Filed April 10, 1957 2 sheets-Shea; 2

Patented Jan. 11, 1938 2,105,084 ARTICLE HANDLING APPARATUS Ray C. Kivley, Oak Park, and George Stuhlfauth,

Chicago, IlL, assignors to Western Electric, Company, Incorporated, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application April 10, 1937, Serial No. 136,124

11 Claims. (Cl. 198-33) This invention relates to article handling apparatus and more particularly to apparatus for arranging threaded blanks with the threaded ends in a predetermined position.

In the manufacture of screw eyes, automatic machinery has been developed for forming the eye portion of the screw eye by bending the unthreaded endof a threaded blank to substantially circular form. This machinery is equipped with automatic feed mechanism for feeding the blanks to the bending dies. However, it is necessary to have all of the blanks with the threaded ends extending in one direction in the forming process. p It is an object of the present invention to provide a simple and inexpensive article handling apparatus and more particularlyflto apparatus for arranging threaded blankswith their heads all extending in one direction.

In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, there is provided apparatus for sorting and delivered to pairs of knife edged selectors,

one selector of each pairfb eing movable in timed relation to thefeeding of the blanksthereto so that the threaded ends of the blanks may be held by either the fixed or movable selector and will be apparent from the followingdescription when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein v Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of a sorting machine for sorting screw eyehook blanks;

of Fig. 2 is, a vertlcaltsectional view, taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1,in the direction of the arrows; i

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the lines 3-3 of Fig. 2, in the direction of the arrows; Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the lines 4-4 of Fig. 2; in the direction of the arrows, and i v 1 Figffi is a fragmentary vertical sectional view of the arrows.

taken on the line .5 5 of Fig. 3 in the direction 55 g I Referring now to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals designate the same parts throughout the several views, particular reference being had to Figs. 1 and 2, numeral In indicates' a base for supporting the various parts of the apparatus and which may be mounted upon suitable standards, not shown, or upon a bench, not shown. Mounted upon the base 10 is a motor I l for driving the various movableparts of the apparatus. This motor ii is mounted at the rear of the device, as viewed in Fig. 1 or at the left side thereof, as viewed in Fig. 2, and is provided with an eccentric drive, designated generally by the numeral I2. The motor ll may be supplied with electric current in any suitable manner and upon its operation drives a shaft 13 having an eccentric carrying sleeve l4 mounted thereon for driving an eccentric member 15 through a circular path; The eccentric drive I2 is supported upon the eccentric member l5 and will be reciprocated therewith to drive a push rod 16. The eccentric drive [2 has a vertical bore l1 formed therein for receiving the rod I6, which rod has a groove I8 formed therein into which a springpressed ball I9 is urged by a spring 20 mounted in a horizontally disposed bore 2| and held in place in the bore by means of a threaded member 22.

, The upper endof the rod I6 is pinned to a rocker arm 30, which in turn is fixed to a shaft 3! journalled in a pair of journal blocks 32. The journal blocks 32 are mounted upon the rear edges of a pair of upright members 33 and 34 which constitute the main support oftthe apparatus. These upright members are spaced. apart by a pair of plates 35 and 36 which are secured to the upright members 33 and 34 to form a substantially H-shaped framework. The upper plate 35 forms the rear wall of amagazine, designated generally by the numeral 31, and having side walls 38 and 39, to which are fixed blank retaining plates40, 4|, 42, and 43, the retaining plates 40 and 4| beingsecured to the side plate 38 and the plates 42 and 43 being secured to the side plate 39 thereby to form the magazine 31 with an open frontin which screw'eye blanks 44 may be placed with their threaded ends extending to either the right or the left, Fig. 1. The lower end of the magazine 31 terminates in a slot 45, the walls of which comprise a face plate 46 and a rear plate 41. The upper ends of the plates 46 and 41 are beveled, as shown at 48 and 49, respectively,to guide-parts from the magazine into the slot 45 and the plates 46 and 41 are held apart by a pair of spacers 50 and 5|, being held on the plate 35 by means of machine screws 52.

Supported by the upright members 33 and 34 adjacent their upper ends are a pair of pivot pins 53 and 54. respectively, upon which are pivoted a pair of rocker arms 55 and 56, respectively. The rocker arm 55 has a pin 51 secured thereto which extends between the jaws of a bifurcated member 58 carried by the shaft 3| and the rocker arms 55 and 56 are joined together at their bottom ends by a blank carrier 59, which is secured to the lower ends of the rocker arms by means of machine screws 60 so that each time the shaft 3| is rocked by the eccentric drive |2, the rocker arms 55 will move the blank carrier back and forth beneath the slot 45. The shaft 3| carries, in addition to the bifurcated member 58, a pair of levers 6|, the forward ends of which extend through slots 62-62 and 63-63 in the plate 65 and the rear plate 41 for the purpose of agitating the screw eye blanks 44 in the magazine 31 to insure that they will not jam at the mouth of the slot 45. The carrier 59 has a pair of slots 69 and I8 formed therein for receiving screw eye blanks from the slot 45 and carrying them to the right or left from the slot 45, Figs. 2, 3, 4, and 5, to deposit the blanks on knife edged selectors II, I2, I3, and I4. The selectors I3 and I4 are fixed to the plate 36 and the selectors II and I2 are pivotally mounted thereon, being adapted to oscillate about a pin 15, a pair of springs I6 and I1 normally tending to rotate the selectors II and I2 in a clockwise direction about the pin I5 which is mounted in the plate 36. Each of the selectors 1|, I2, I3, and I4 has a V-shaped knife edge formed thereon as shown at I8, I9, 88, and 8|, which will tend to hold the threaded ends of blanks on whichever one of the knife edges the threaded end of the blank happens to fall when the selectors 'II and I2 are rocked about the pin I5 in a counterclockwise direction. The mechanism for rocking the selectors II and 12 in a counter-clockwise direction comprises a pair of pins and 86 mounted in the carrier 59 and cooperating with cam surfaces 81 and 88 formed on the selectors II and I2.

Positioned beneath the selectors I|, I2, 13, and I4 is a tapered trough 98 which is fixed to the upright member 34 and which terminates in a feed pipe 9| so that blanks 44 which are deposited in the magazine 31 and passed therefrom to the selectors will be directed to the pipe 9| with their threaded ends upwardly. The pipe 9| may extend to a suitable container for receiving the threaded blanks or it may be utilized to feed the parts directly to the magazine of a bending machine for forming the threaded blanks into screw eyes.

It is believed that a better understanding of the invention may be had from the following brief description of the operation thereof.

If a plurality of blanks, such as those shown at 44, having one end thereof threaded, are placed in the magazine 31 with the threaded ends extending to either the right or left at random, Fig. 1, the blanks will tend to roll down intothe slot 45, the lever 6| tending to agitate the blanks in the lower end of the magazine so that the blanks will all lie horizontally in the slot 45 from which the blanks will drop into the slots 69 and III of the carrier 59 and will be moved to position over either the selectors I2 and I4 or over the selectors II and I3 as the carrier is oscillated by the rocker arms 55 and 56 driven through the bifurcated member 58, shaft 3|, and rod I6, which is, in turn, driven by the eccentric device I2. After a blank has been deposited on the selectors I2 and I4, the carrier will be in the position shown in Figs. 2 and 5, and the knife edged selector I2 will be in the position shown in Figs. 1 and 4. As the carrier 59 moves to the left, Figs. 2, 4, and 5, it will cam the selector I2 in a counter-clockwise direction, Fig. 1, and the threaded blank 44, if the threaded end thereof extends to the left, Fig. 1, will be pulled off of the knife edge 8| and will drop into the tapered trough 98 with the unthreaded end extending downwardly. Similarly, if the threaded end of the blank 44 extends to the right, Fig. 1, the knife edge 8| will tend to hold the blank and the knife edge I9 will move out from under the unthreaded end of the blank, permitting the blank to fall into the tapered trough 90 with the unthreaded end downward.

If, in the feeding of parts from the slot 45 to the carrier, an end of a blank catches in one of the slots 69 or I0 while the other end thereof is still in the slot 45, or for some other reason the carrier 59 or levers 6| encounter excessive resistance to their normal movement, the eccentric device I2 will continue to move but rod |6 will not move due to the ball and groove connection between the eccentric and rod. In this manner, damage to the machine is avoided.

Although a specific embodiment of the invention has been disclosed herein, it will be understood that many modiflcations inay be made in the machine without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An article handling apparatus for sorting blanks comprising a. rocking carrier, a magazine for feeding parts to said carrier, a pair of knife edged selectors associated with said carrier for receiving a blank from the carrier, and means for moving one of said selectors to cause a blank positioned on a pair of selectors to drop therefrom with a predetermined end of the blank downward.

2. An apparatus for sorting threaded blanks, a

magazine for receiving a plurality of threaded blanks; a rocking carrier associated with said magazine to take blanks therefrom one at a time, a pair of selectors adjacent said carrier for receiving blanks therefrom, and means for oscillating one of said selectors to cause a blank to drop between the selectors with a predetermined end thereof downward.

3. An apparatus for sorting threaded blanks comprising a magazine, a carrier associated with said magazine for receiving blanks therefrom, a pair of selectors spaced apart a distance less than the length of the blank for receiving a blank from the carrier, and means for moving one of said selectors away from the other a predetermined distance to cause the blanks to drop off of the selectors with a predetermined endgaging the threaded ends of the blanks to tend to hold the threaded end of the blank until after the unthreaded end thereof moves on of the other selector.

5. An apparatus for sorting threaded blanks comprising a shiftable carrier having blank receiving slots therein, a magazine for feeding threaded blanks to the slots in said carrier, a pair of selector devices for receiving the blanks from the slots in said carrier, and means for moving a part of each selector device and said carrier in timed relation to feed blanks to said selectors and then drop them from said selector with the threaded portion leaving the selector last.

6. An apparatus for sorting threaded blanks comprising a shiftable carrier having blank receiving slots therein, a magazine for feeding threaded blanks to the slots in said carrier, a pair of selector devices for receiving the blanks from the slots in said carrier, each of said devices comprising a fixed selector and a movable selector, and means for moving the movable selector and carrier in timed relation to feed blanks to said selectors and then drop them from said selector with the threaded portion leaving the selector last.

'I. An apparatus for sorting threaded blanks comprising an oscillatable carrier, a magazine for feeding blanks to said carrier, a fixed selector and a movable selector for receiving blanks from said carrier, means for oscillating said carrier, and means on said carrier for moving the movable selector.

8. An apparatus for sorting threaded blanks comprising an oscillatable carrier, a magazine for feeding blanks to said carrier, a fixed selector and a movable selector for receiving blanks from said carrier, means for oscillating said carrier, and means on said carrier for moving one end of the movable selector away from the fixed selector to permit the blank to pass \between the selectors.

9. An apparatus for sorting threaded blanks comprising an oscillatable carrier, a magazine for.

feeding blanks to said carrier, a fixed selector and a movable selector for receiving blanks from said carrier, means for oscillating said carrier, and means on said carrier for moving one end of the movable selector away from the fixed selector to permit the blank to drop between the selectors, said fixed and movable selectors having means tending to hold the threaded end of the blank when the selectors are moved apart to cause the plain end of the blank to slip oil? the other selector first.

10. An apparatus for sorting threaded blanks comprising an oscillatable carrier, a magazine for feeding blanks to said carrier, a fixed selector and a movable selector for receiving blanks from said carrier, means for oscillating said carrier, and means on said carrier for moving one end of the movable selector away from the fixed selector to permit the blank to drop between the selectors, said fixed and movable selectors having V-shaped knife edges formed thereon in the portion which receives the blanks tending to hold the threaded end of the blank when the selectors are moved apart to cause the plain end of the blank to slip off the other selector first. 11. An apparatus for sorting threaded blanks comprising an oscillatable carrier, a magazine for feeding blanks to said carrier, a fixed selector and a movable selector for receiving blanks from said carrier, means for oscillating said carrier, means on said carrier for moving one end of the movable selector away from the fixed selector topermit the blank to drop between the selectors, said fixed and movable selectors having V-shaped knife edges formed thereon in the portion which receives the blanks tending to hold the threaded end of the blank when the selectors are moved apart to cause the plain end of the blank to slip off the other selector first, and means for receiving said blanks as they are dropped plain end down from said selectors.

RAY C. KIVLEY.- GEORGE STUHLFAUTH. 

